Motorsports

Busch youngest to win race

Kyle Busch makes series history and says he will donate his winner's share to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

By wire services
Published September 6, 2005

FONTANA, Calif. - Kyle Busch made the best of his final chance to become the youngest driver to win a Nextel Cup race Sunday night, making history in the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway.

Busch's first victory came at age of 20 years, four months and two days. Donald Thomas was 20 years, four months and six days old when he won at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta on Nov.16, 1952.

Busch likely aged more than that four-day difference as he sweated out the end of a race in which teammates Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth, as well as Jamie McMurray, enhanced their hopes of making the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon's chances took a blow.

Busch led comfortably on Lap 241 when a caution flag for debris on the backstretch shook things up.

The leaders went to pit road, and Busch had to take only two tires when he got too close to the pit road wall to take four. He went back on the track third behind Robby Gordon and Jeff Green, who didn't pit, for a restart with seven laps left.

Busch quickly got past them to regain the lead, with Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers pulling in behind him. On Lap 247, Scott Riggs got bumped up the track into the wall and hit Robby Gordon to cause another caution and set up a green-white-checkered, NASCAR's of version of a two-lap overtime.

Busch, Biffle and Vickers took two tires on the last stop. Kenseth and Tony Stewart were behind them, and they were on four tires.

Busch's No. 5 Chevrolet was strong enough to hold them all off, giving him the record and setting off a wild celebration for his Hendrick Motorsports team.

"It's unbelievable," Busch said after climbing from the car and saying he would donate his winner's share of the purse to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. "This is awesome for us. My nerves were getting too me. I'd had enough of that.

"It was a great race car for us. I can't thank the guys on this team enough. I didn't know I had it won until we got the checkered flag. That was an awesome call by (crew chief) to get two tires to keep our track position and that won us this race."

Others were happy afterward, too.

Edwards finished fourth, behind Biffle and Vickers, and is eighth in points, 86 ahead of 11th. Kenseth finished seventh and picked up a spot. He's now ninth, 11 points inside the cut.

McMurray gained huge ground on the late cautions and finished eighth. McMurray, who missed the Chase by 15 points last year, is 10th, one point ahead of Ryan Newman, who finished 18th.

Gordon fell out of the top 30 early in the race, rallied back into the top 10, then faded to 21st at the finish. He's 12th in points, 30 behind McMurray.

"We just haven't performed this year," Gordon said. "That was pathetic."

Roush Racing Fords started in the first four spots, and by Lap 12, all had led a lap. Carl Edwards, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle each got five bonus points out of the deal. Matt Kenseth then got his five points by staying on the track for the first caution lap after Mike Garvey's engine problem brought out the caution on Lap 23.

Jeff Gordon, who came into the race with a tenuous hold on 10th and the final spot in the Chase, began to fade, and by Lap 33 he was outside the top 30.

[Last modified September 6, 2005, 03:15:21]